I just saw the plastic sprues for the new Wood Elf army (which will come, in the usual way, as spearmen and archers in two seperate boxes) the other day - I had meant to make my own post about the figures, as they are really beautiful (I would be tempted to say 'best plastics yet') but then, this board isn't very GW-friendly and mightn't have appreciated the news.
With the almost-standard 16 figures per box, and at the usual GW price, these will be an excellent buy even if they don't include a command sprue - they may well, I just didn't see one and didn't think to ask at the time.
I would describe them as 'massively multipose'; everything is seperate (each fig 2 x arms, 1 x legs, 1 x torsos, 1 x head with a choice of helmeted, hooded, bare-headed etc, and that's before any "accessories" or other weapons) plus the box includes a plethora of 'bits' including seperate robes, sashes, quivers and what can only be described as large lettuce-like leaves that I think will act as an outer layer clothing (from the painted minis they had on the poster, this looks much better than it sounds - basically allowing for a lot of 'layering' of clothing that you couldn't achieve with a single casting due to not being able to use undercuts, etc).
The sprues include even more extras than usual - I noticed some small fairy-like creatures which may be a seperate 'swarm' type unit, or just for base decoration - the frames were literally packed to capacity unlike some of the more 'disappointing' releases I've seen where there seems to be a lot of unused space on the sprue.
Because the figs are not 'tied' to their cloaks/robes/etc they will be very easy to pose in any way you like and still have the appropriate flowing / hanging / windblown look. They will also be very easy to 'detach from their robes', if you decide you want a plainer look or even, gasp, want to use them in a historical or other fantasy army (I know I will be!).
Although I didn't have a model with me to compare sizes, they looked to have a slighter build which reminded me very much of the fine detail on the LOTR plastics. However, they seem taller than eg. the LOTR Elves so they will stil no doubt seem 'right' next to an Empire or Brettonian soldier - but my point is you could also use them alongside LOTR or any other 25mm figures without any real problems. Very versatile figures - you can put me down for several boxes just for conversion projects alone.
The release date is sometime in September, which seems a painfully long time away, but such are the drawbacks of such lovely sneak previews ahead of time.[/b]